Apparatus for closing dump car doors



J1me 1952 c. E. ZIMMERMAN APPARATUS FOR CLOSING DUMP CAR DOORS 2SHEETS-SHEET 1 Filed Feb. 11, 1950 FIG. I

FIG. 2

a INVENTOR 1! 4r a: .Z'mmmmn ATTORNEYS June 10, 1952 c, E. ZIMMERMANAPPARATUS FOR CLOSING DUMP CAR DOORS 2 SHEETS SHEET 2 Filed Feb. 11 1950I W M ATTORNEYS W mm a M m Patented June 10, 1952 APPARATUS FOR CLOSINGDUMP CAR DOORS Charles E. Zimmerman, Globe, Ariz., assignor toInspiration Consolidated Copper Company, a

corporation of Maine Application February 11, 1950, Serial No. 143,615

7 Claims. 1

This invention relates to apparatus for closing the discharge doors ofbottom-dump ore cars. More particularly the invention is concerned witha fluid-operated apparatus designed to replace the manually operatedmechanism ordinarily provided for closing the doors of such dump cars.

Heretofore, after the doors of a bottom opening dump car have beenopened to discharge ore carried by the car, it has been necessary, inorder to close the doors, to manually operate a crank mechanism whichraises the doors to closed position. The doors must then be maintainedby the crank mechanism in the closed position until a latchingmechanism, secured to the dump car, may be operated to lock the doors insuch closed position. Because of the weight of the doors for an ordinarydump car, the manual closing requires considerable labor, is slow andtedious, and is not altogether safe. Additionally, in order to speed upthe use of the manually operable closing mechanism, two men must beemployed, one to operate the closing mechanism and another to operatethe latching mechanism for locking the doors in closed position afterthe closing mechanism has been operated.

It is the object of this in vention to provide a fluid-operatedmechanism to take the place of the former manually operated mechanismand to accomplish the closing of the doors of a dump car quickly, safelyand without the tedious and laborious manual effort that has heretoforebeen required. The invention contemplates the accomplishment of thisobject by a fluid-operated mechanism controlled entirely by a singlevalve means. The fluid-operated mechanism contemplated provides an equalclosing force for each door of the dump car, whereby each door may befully closed despite any resistance to closing encountered by anotherdoor. Furthermore, the fluid-operated mechanism for closing the doorsincludes a time-delay device, whereby the doors are automatically heldin closed position for a predetermined period of time before thefluid-operated mechanism ceases to exert the closing forces on them sothat the door latching means carried by the car may be operated to lockthe doors in closed position safely and without any danger to theoperator.

Briefly, the fluid-operated mechanism for closing the doors of abottom-dump ore car comprises a pressure-tight cylinder mounted on thecenter sills of the car and provided with fluid under pressure throughan opening in its lower end. A reciprocable piston, supporting anupwardly extending piston rod, is mounted in the cylinder and adapted tobe moved upwardly under the pressure of fluid supplied to the cylinder.A sheave or pulley is attached to the upper end of the piston rod andfreely supports a cable, the

opposite ends of which. are connected to the car doors. Upon theadmission of fluid under pressure to the cylinder the piston, pistonrod, and} pulley are moved upwardly, thereby drawing the cable upwardly,and as the cable is freely supported by the pulley, equal forces areprovided to the car doors to urge them closed. The flowof fluid to andfrom the pressure-tight cylinder is controlled by a valve operable inone direction to permit the flow of fluid to the cylinder and in theopposite direction to permit the flow of fluid from the cylinder. Thevalve is so designed that it is normally urged in the latter direction.However, a latching mechanism is additionally provided whereby itsoperating handle may be main,-

tained in the position in which the valve is operable to supply fluid tothe cylinder. A time-delay device is associated with the operatinghandle of the valve to unlatch it after a predetermined interval andpermit the valve to return to a position in which fluid already suppliedto the pressure-tight cylinder may flow through it from, or out of, thecylinder. The time-delay device is operable in response to the positionof the piston in the cylinder and/or in response to the volume andpressure of the fluid supplied to the pressuretight cylinder, and isactuated when the piston has been moved upwardly in the cylinder to theposition at which it lies when the car doors are closed. The periodbetween this time and that at which the time-delay device haseffectively acted to unlatch the valve-operating handle therebyreleasing the fluid from the elevating cylinder is sufliciently long topermit the operation of the latching means by which the doors of the carmay be permanently maintained in closed position.

For a more detailed description of one type of apparatus which fallswithin the scope of this invention, reference may be made to theaccompanying drawings in which:

Fig. 1 is a perspective View of a bottom-dump ore car provided with afluid-operated door closing mechanism according to my invention,

Fig. 2 is an end view of the car shown in Fig. 1 in which parts of thecar are shown in section in order that my novel closing device may beseen more clearly,

Fig. 3 is a sectional View taken along line 3-3 of Fig. 2 and shows thecable raising mechanism and time-delay device,

Fig. 4 is a sectional view taken along line 4-'4 of Fig. 2 and shows, indetail, the valve mechanism employed for controlling the flow of fluidto and from the door closing mechanism, and

Fig. 5 is a sectional view taken along line 55 of Fig. 2 showing moreclearly the structure of the upper end of the cable-carrying piston rodand the guides therefor.

By reference to Figs. 1 and 2, a bottom opening dump car, and featuresthereof that are old, will first be described. The dump car has uprightside walls 2 and sloping end walls 3, only one of each of which may beseen in the drawings. The bottom of the car is partially formed bydownwardly opening doors 4 and 4' (Fig. 2)

partially supported by shafts 5 and 6, which The extend throughout thelength of the car. remainder of the bottom is formed by a longitudinallyextending fixed member or members) 1, which is triangular incross-section so as to direct the car contents through the doors whenthe latter are opened by being pivoted downwardly about shafts 5 and 6.The car is adapted to be supported on railway rails 8 and 9 by afour-wheel truck at each of its ends, only oiie'truck being shown in thedrawings. Each of the doors 4 and 4' is supported bya'plurality ofhingesll secured to the underside of the doors at spaced intervals along theirlongitudinal extent. The inner end of each hinge is formed with a loop[2, which is adapted to surround the longitudinally extending shaft or 6and to therebysupport the inner end of the hinge and inner edge'of thedoor. Each hinge i l is of sufficient length to extend a short distancebeyond an outer side wall 2 of the car when it supports a door in closedposition. Door latches 13, one for each door hinge, are pivotallysupported by pins M on the outer face of side sills l5 of the car;Connecting rods it, one for each side of the car, connect the upper endsof the latches and are themselves connected by a transversely extendingrod I! by which all the latches on the car may be pivoted or operatedfrom one posi-, tion. The lower ends of the latches have projectingportions l8 which are adapted to pass beneath the outer ends of thedoor'hinges when the doors are in closed position and to'thereby supportthe hinges and therefore the doors. The outer end of each door hinge His formed with a rearwardly and upwardly extending portion [9 whichefiectively prevents the 1ower end of its corresponding latch fromsliding off the end of the hinge when the latch and the hinge are inlocking relationship. Pivot brackets 20, extending partially beneathdoors 4 and 4 and secured thereto at spaced intervals along the lengthof the doors, are supported by shafts 5 and 6 to which they are fixedlysecured as by keys. Op crating brackets 21 are also secured to shafts 5and 6 by keys at the end of the car outside sloping wall 3 thereof andnormally extend upw'ardly above the plane of the bottom of the car.

The structure above described is old in the art and for its operationthere was formerly supportedat the end of the car between operatingbrackets 2|, a crank and windllass assembly by which the operatingbrackets 2i could be pivoted upwardly to close car doors ti and 6'. Withthat closing mechanism, however, which was manually operated, theclosing of the doors was a tedious and laborious operation requiring"considerable time. Additionally, the mechanism had to be manuallymaintained in door-closing condition until the latches l3 could beoperated to lock the doors in closed position. Also, as the mechanismwas individually secured to brackets 2|, theforce supplied by the crankand Windlass mechanism to close the doors was not equalized between thedoors and if, for any reason, one of the car doors would not close, theotherwould not close either.

The apparatus of my invention is aimed at the replacement of the formermanually operated mechanism by an automatically operated mechanism whichprovidesequal closingiforces to the car doors and which also provides atime lag after it has been operated to close the doors and before it hasbeen deactivated and returned to its original position, in which thelatches l3 may be safely pivoted to secure the doors in closed position.To this end my apparatus comprises a fluid pressure cylinder 22supported at one end of the car on the center sill structure 23 of thecar between longitudinally extending shafts 5 and 6; For the purposes ofthis description and as contemplated for actual use, the fluid to beused in the operation of the mechanism will be compressed air. An inletconduit 24 is provided to supply compressed air to the lower end ofcylinder 22.

A piston 25 (Figs. 3 and 5) is reciprocably mounted in cylinder 22 andsupports'on its upper side a piston rod 26 of tubular shape whichextends through an opening 21 in the upper wall 28 of cylinder 22. Apulley or sheave 29 is supported on a bearing 39 secured in the upperend of tubular piston rod 28. Guide followers 3| are secured to theouter side of piston rod 2 6 and are adapted to ride between guides 32of a guiding framework which is supported on the upper end 28 ofcylinder 22. For further support the upper ends of each of the membersor elements 32 of the guidin framework are additionally se cured to endwall 3 of the dump car. As seen most clearly in Fig. 2', each pair ofguiding elements $2 is provided with a pair of sheave supporting members33 having a seriesof corresponding holes 34 in which bearings forguiding sheaves or pulleys 35 may be mounted. A cable 36 (Fig. 2) isadjustably attached at its opposite ends to operating brackets 2| of thecar doors by means of auxiliary brackets 37 secured to operatingbrackets 2i andeach having a series of holes therein whereby theposition of attachmerit may be varied. Pulley or sheave 29 supported atthe upp r end of piston rod 26 is adapted to freely engage the centerportionof the cable which. passes over it and which passes beneath fixedguiding sheaves 35. Itwill thus be seen that when compressed air issupplied to the lower end of cylinder 22 through conduit 24' that piston25 and piston rod 26 will be urged up wardly and thatpulleyj or sheave29 will in turn draw the, ends of. c'able'36 inwardly and upweu dly. topivot operating brackets 2| on shafts 5 and 6,.

wall 3 of-the canto permit the piston rod 26' to be elevated asuflicient distance to closetightly the doors and a box-like coveringmember 3' is provided to cover the opening topreyentore loaded inthe-carf-rompassing. through theopein. ing.

The supply of compressed air to conduit 24 is controlled by a three-wayvalve shown in detail. in Fig. 4. Briefly,.it comprises a block. 38hayingv a valve chamber 39 in communication with which is conduit 24which leads. from the valve to cylinder 22 and conduit 40 leading from acompressed air supplyconduit 40' (Fig; 2)" t'othe valve. A standardvalve element M is reciprocably mounted within valve chamber 39 and isprovided at each end with an air-tight piston cup 42. When in theposition shown in Fig. 4, the valve element places conduit 24, andtherefore the interior of cylinder 22, in communication with theatmosphere through the valve and a vent 43. A valve operating handle orlever 44, loosely pivoted by a pin 45 to a portion 46 of the valve body38, is provided to urge valve element 4| inwardly in valve chamber 39. Aroller bearing 47 is supported in the outer end of valve element 4| toreceive, with negligible friction, the force supplied by lever 44 to thevalve element. When the valve element 4| is urged to its inner position,as will be the case when lever 44 is moved to its position shown indotted lines in Fig. 4, conduit 24 is placed in communication withconduit 4|] which leads from the source of compressed air, and thereforecompressed air is supplied to cylinder 22. The valve, as described, isnot in itself a part of my invention.

A bracket 48 is supported by the same portion of the framework thatsupports the valve and is provided with steps 49 and 59. Operating lever44 rests on step 59 when the valve is in venting position and on step 49when the valve is in air supplying position. When the valve element 4|is moved inwardly within chamber 39, a certain amount of air containedin the inner end'of chamber 39 is compressed between that end of thechamber and the inner end of the valve element because of the fact thatpiston cup 42 at this end of the valve element is air tight. In otherwords, when valve element 4| is moved inwardly in the valve chamber, itis so moved against the pressure of the compressed and trapped air.Therefore, it will be clear that the valve element 4| is always urgedoutwardly either by compressed air from conduit 49 or by the compressedair entrapped at the inner end of chamber 39. When lever 44 is moved tothe dotted line position, it is so moved against an opposing forceexerted on the valve element and when it is in dotted line position onstep 49 and is released it will be urged against the shoulder betweensteps 49 and 59 and remain there until positively lifted above theshoulder so that it may return to its original position, and thus piston25 and its supported structure will remain in their uppermost, or doorclosing, positions until the lever 44 is released.

Referring again to Fig. 3, I will now describe the novel time-delaydevice by which the operating lever 44 is released from step 49 acertain predetermined length of time after the compressed air operatingmechanism eifectively closes the doors of the car. A pressure-tightcylinder 5|, in which there is contained a fixed quantity of fluid 52,such as oil, has its upper end connected by a conduit 53 to the interiorof cylinder 22 at a point just below the position in which piston 25will be when it has moved upwardly in cylinder 22 to effectively closethe doors of the car. A second fluid or pressure-tight cylinder 54 issupported on bracket 48 by a U-clamp 55 directly beneath step 49 of thebracket and has its lower end connected by a conduit 56 to the lower endof cylinder 5|. Conduit 56 is connected to cylinder 54 by a connectingmember 51 having therein a restricted orifice 58. A piston 59 isreciprocably mounted in cylinder 54 and is spring urged towards thebottom of the cylinder by a spring 69 contained in the cylinder. Apiston rod 6| is supported by piston 59 and extends through the upperend of cylinder 54, its own uppermost end being positioned just belowthe lever 44 on step 49 of bracket 48 when piston.

59 rests at the lower end of cylinder 54. Piston 59 is adapted to beurged upwardly against the force of spring 60 when compressed air isadmitted to cylinder 5| through conduit 53, thereby forcing oil 52through conduit 56 and restricted orifice 58 into cylinder 54.Compressed air is, of course, admitted to conduit 53 only when theoperating lever 44 of the three-way valve is resting on step 49 andcompressed air has thus been supplied to cylinder 22. When piston 59rises in cylinder 54, piston rod 6| abuts the lower side of theoperating lever and raises it, thereby releasing it from engagement withthe shoulder between steps 49 and 50 and permitting-it to return to itsposition, as shown in solid lines in Fig. 4. Because of the restrictedorifice 58, through which oil must pass from cylinder 5| to cylinder 54,the flow of oil between these cylinders is-relatively slow and a certainperiod elapses between the time when compressed air is initiallyadmitted to cylinder 5|, above the oil level therein, and the time whena suflicient amount of oil has been admitted to cylinder 54 to raise thepiston and the piston rod to release operating lever 44. It iscontemplated that during this period, which may be made as long asdesired as, for instance, by varying the size of the orifice 56 or thesize of spring 60, the door latches I3 of the car may be operated tolock the doors in closed position.

A shield 62 (Fig. 1) is secured to the upper edge of end wall 3 of thecar and extends outwardly therefrom over my apparatus to protect it fromore which may overflow the end of the car or which may be dropped overthe end during loading.

The operation of my fluid-operated door closing mechanism in itsentirety is briefly as follows: Assuming that the doors of the car arein opened position and that therefore piston 25 is at its lowestposition in cylinder 22, the three- Way valve is operated by lever 44 toadmit compressed air to cylinder 22, as described, operating lever 44being maintained on step 49 by the shoulder between steps 49 and 50.Under the influence of the compressed air so admitted to cylinder 22,piston 25 moves upwardly in the cylinder, thereby moving sheave orpulley 29 upwardly and drawing cable 36 inwardly and upwardly to pivotthe doors 4 and 4' of the car to closed position under equal forces.When the doors have thus been pivoted to closed position and piston 25is in its uppermost position, the interior of cylinder 22 is incommunication with the interior of cylinder 5| through conduit 53 andcompressed air is thereby supplied to cylinder 5| above the level of theoil therein. Oil 52 then begins to flow through conduit 56 andrestricted orifice 58 into cylinder 54 to force piston 59 and piston rod6| upwardly therein. After a predetermined length of time, suflicientoil will have been admitted to cylinder 54 to cause piston rod 6| torise sufiiciently to release operating lever 44 of the valve from step49, thereby per= mitting valve element 4| to return to its normalposition. As stated, during this period of time, latches I3 may beplaced in looking position below the outer ends of door hinges tothereby lock the doors of the car closed. When valve element 4| returnsto its original position, cylinder 22 is vented through conduit 24, thevalve. and vent 43, and piston 25 descends within cylinder 22 to itsoriginal position where it remains untiili it has to be used again toclcse the car doors; Compressed for: 'tn'e o eration' of the mechanismmay beprovidedfrom any source-but it is contemplatdithat it' will besupplied-from the :compressor i of the locomotive-engine used Ito drawthe'dump carby means independent' of-the brake line or system;

1. I-n aL duzn p ca'r having 'a -pair 'ofido'wnwardly opening :doors and latchingmearis' for 'maintainin'g thedoor' in closed-position afterthey have been closed, apparatus for closing thedoors which comprises acable securedat one end tooneofthe doots and-at its other endlto theother door, means freely-engaging thecable int'ermediate -th'e cableen'd's, andmeaiis ior foreingl-said cable engaging means upwardly: to'closethe doors; whereby the closing force acting up'onone door is'always --eq-ua-l to the closing force acting upon-the other door;

2. Ina- -dump car 'h'a-vin'ga pairof downwa'rdly opening-doors andlat'ehingmeans for: maintaining th'e doors in closed 'position aftertheyhave been closed, apparatus for closing the doors which comprises afluid pressure cylinder, a" piston within said "cylinder andmovablethereinunder the force or a fluid admitted to the eviinderunder=pressure,-a piston rod secured to said piston, means for"supplying fluid under pressure to the cylinder belmwthepiston; a cablesecured atone end to one *of the' doors and at I its other end to"the-"other door, and means 'supportedon the-piston rod and freelyengaging the cable intermediate theends-of the cable, whereby-whenfluidunder pressure is supplied 3 to the cylinder the" piston thereinis* urged upwardly thereby urging the cable engaging means upwardlyahdunder pressure 'to 'the cylinder below the piston,

a c'abl'esecured at one en'd to one of the brackets and -at its-othe'r"end to the other bracket, and

means supp'ortedon the piston rod and freely' engaging the ce'rbleintermediate the ends of the cable, whereby when fluid under "pressureis supplied to the cylinder the piston therein is urged upwardly therebyurging the" cable engaging means upwardly and exerting equal forces uponI the brackets secured to the pivotsupportsto urge the doors closed withequal force."

4. In a'dump car' h'aving downwardly opening doors, means operat'edby"fluid undr pressure for 'clo'sing said doors and-latching means for"maintaining the doors in closed position after they have been closed,apparatus "for controlling the fluid-operated means'whichcomprisesv'alve means for controlling the flow of fluid to and from.said fluid op'er'ated means, means 'for mov ing the val-ve to a-positionto supply fluid underpressure to the fluid-operated means,--means formaintaining said' valve in said position, a time-- delay-deviceresp'oiisive' to movement of the fluidoperated-means to" deererasing-position for mot 8. ing. said valve meansto its originalpositionin which thesup'ply of fluid to the fluid operated means isdiscontinued and in which fluid that has been supplied to thefluid-operated means is permitted to 'flow from the fluid-operatedmeans, said time-delay device 'providing'aperiod of time'in which thecar doors are-held closed by the fluid-operated means and during whichthe latching means may be adjusted to maintain :the doors in closedposition.

5. In a dump car having downwardly opening doors, means operated byfluid under pressure for closing said doors and latching means formaintaining the doors in closed position after Ithey. have been closed,apparatus for controlling.

the fluid-operated means which comprises valve means-for controlling theflow of fluid to and from said fluid-operated means, manually operablemeansfor moving the valve. to a position-to isupply fluid under pressureto the fluid-operated means, means for maintaining said'valve in saidposition, said valve when in said position being acted upon by a forcewhich urges it toward its original position, and a time-delay deviceresponsive to the volume and pressure of the fluid supplied to thefluid-operated means for releasing the valve so that it returns to itsoriginal position in which the supply of fluid to the fluid-operatedmeans is discontinued and in :which fluidthat has been supplied to thefluidoperated means is permitted to flow from the fluid-operated means,said time-delay device providing. a period of time in which the doorsare held closed by the fluid-operated means and :during which thelatching means may be adjusted to maintain the doors in closed position.6. Apparatus in accordance with claim 5'in which the time-delay devicecomprises a pressure-tight cylinder containing a supply of fluid. asecond cylinder, a piston reciprocably mounted in said second cylindenapiston rod supported by said piston and extending through one :end ofsaid second cylinder and adapted toact upon said valve means to releasethe valve-so that it ;,may return to its original position, aconduitconnecting one-end of said first-mentioned pres sure-tight cylinder tothe fluid-operated means, a conduit having a restricted orifice andconnecting the other end of said first-mentioned gcylinder to the end ofsaid second cylinder below the piston contained therein, whereby thepiston and its supported piston rod are urged away from saidlast-mentioned end 'of 'the second cylinderwhen the fluid under pressure:in the fluid goperated means is permitted'to enterthe first mentionedconnecting .conduit.

7. Apparatus in accordance with claim- 6 which includes spring meanscontained in the second cylinder and acting. upon the piston therein tooppose movement of the piston as'a result of the admission into saidsecond cylinder of flui'dfrom the first-mentioned cylinder .GFA'RESETcar essness-crass The following references are ofrecord in the file ofthis patent:

UNITED STA-m PATENTS Number Name Date 732,348 fiaflis'ol l ua June 30,I903 FOREIGN PA'IENTS' Number M Country, D'ate 139,2?!) France- Oct-i2,i930

